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Tag Archives: Bicentennial Biographies
Congratulations Jason Sample upon the completion of 200 Bicentennial Biographies!
Jason Sample is a Board Member with the Chautauqua County Historical Society and our Marketing Director. For months now, he has been researching, writing, recording and posting these bicentennial biographies. He has also been the voice of the biographies heard … Continue reading
Judge Jacob Houghton – Bicentennial Biography No. 17
Judge Jacob Houghton was born in Bolton, Mass in 1777. His father, Simon Houghton, was for many years a member of the Massachusetts Legislature. As a young man, Jacob went to Vermont, taught school, was clerk in a store, and then removed with his employer to Troy, New York. There he studied law for three years Continue reading
John Blowers – Bicentennial Biography No. 15
Not much is known about John Blowers, only that he was born in Rensselaer County, New York in 1785 and moved to the Chautauqua County area in 1810 with his wife, Phoebe. The couple had come to the area from Pittstown, New York when John’s employer, James Prendergast, also returned to the area. In November 1810, Blowers, built a log cabin near what is today Fairmount Avenue… Continue reading
James Prendergast – Bicentennial Biography No. 14
When it comes to the early settlement of Jamestown, no individual played a greater role than James Prendergast. Prendergast was born in March 9, 1764 in Dutchess County, New York to William and Mehitable Prendergast. In 1806, he arrived in Chautauqua County with the rest of his family, but soon returned to Pittstown in the fall of that year. Prior to his return to the Hudson Valley, it is said that James first found the land that would… Continue reading
Thomas Bemus – Bicentennial Biography No. 13
Thomas Bemus was born May 19, 1786 in Pittstown, New York. The second of nine children born to William and Mary Prendergast Bemus, Thomas was 19 years old by the time he… Continue reading